Prototheca microalgae were only recognized as pathogens of both humans and animals in the 1960s; however, since then, these microbes have been drawing increasing interest in both human and veterinary medicine. The first human outbreak of protothecosis in a tertiary care chemotherapy ward in 2018 further highlighted the need to understand in more depth and detail their ecology, etiology, pathogenesis and routes of transmission between different hosts, environments and habitats from a One Health perspective. Protothecal infections have been reported in a growing number of cattle herds around the world in recent decades, and Prototheca has become an important bovine mastitis pathogen in certain countries and regions. The survival of Prototheca in the environment and its ability to spread in the herd pose a serious challenge to the management of infected dairy farms. Prevention of the disease is particularly important, as there is no effective and reliable treatment for it and the chances of self-healing are minimal. Therefore, the development of more effective drugs is needed for the treatment of human and animal protothecosis. The prudent use of antibiotics and their replacement by alternative or preventive measures, when possible, may further contribute to the control of protothecal infections.

Abstract. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of cow breed, season and type of diet on the fatty acid (FA) profile of raw milk. A 2-year study was conducted on bulk milk samples collected from eight herds consisting of Czech Fleckvieh (CF, four herds) and Holstein (H, four herds) breeds. One half of the herds of each breed was grazed (G), while the other half was not (N). Samples were collected twice in winter (W) and twice in summer (S). Milk yield in CF (5385.50 kg) was lower than in H (7015.15 kg, P < 0.05). The effect of breed was found in odd-chain, branch-chain and hypercholesterolemic FAs (P < 0.05). The content of fat was lower in summer (S) than in winter (W), being 3.71 and 3.91 g 100 g −1 , respectively (P < 0.05). The proportion of saturated and polyunsaturated FAs was lower in S than in W (P < 0.05). The content of monounsaturated FAs was higher in S (30.69 g 100 g −1 ) than in W (27.72 g 100 g −1 , P < 0.05). Milk yield in grazing herds (G, 5197.50 kg) was lower (P < 0.05) than in non-grazing herds (N, 7203.75 kg). The sum of saturated and hypercholesterolemic FAs was lower and the sum of monounsaturated and odd-chain FAs was higher in G than in N (P < 0.05). Content of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and C18:3n3 was higher in G (0.93 and 0.64 g 100 g −1 ) than in N (0.42 and 0.39 g 100 g −1 , respectively, P < 0.001).

The study focused on the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and resistant strains in livestock. In this study, 114 different samples from three cattle farms (84 from two farms of dairy cows and 30 from one farm of suckler cows), 132 samples from one sheep farm, 120 samples from one goat farm, and 82 samples from three pig farms were examined. Strains identified as Staphylococcus aureus were further analysed by the polymerase chain reaction method for detection of the mecA gene and for confirmation of the sequence type 398. Positive incidence of Staphylococcus aureus was confirmed in farms of suckler cows, sheep, goats and pigs. The incidence of methicilinresistant Staphylococcus aureus was confirmed at a goat farm, with all strains belonging to the sequence type 398. Repetitive element palindromic-polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to compare the relatedness of selected human and animal S. aureus strains at the goat and sheep farms. The obtained data from repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed significant clonal similarity among the tested isolates and indicated the possibility of mutual transmission between animals or animal and human and possible transfer in the food chain. Breeding environment, food animals, methicillin resistant S. aureus

The aim was to evaluate the chosen relationships among milk composition, factors of primary milk production and milk thermostability (TES) on large data file during whole season (n 2,829). The results showed the TES mean 20.71 ± 8.19 minutes (geometric mean 19, median 20 minutes), from 3 to 57 minutes. Variation coefficient was 39.6%. The highest monthly mean was in September (23.98 ± 7.97, vx 33.3 % and xg 22.4 min.) and the lowest in January (16.5 ± 7.17, vx 43.5 % and xg 15.1 min.) and monthly mean values fluctuated (P < 0.001) in a relatively broad range of 7.48 minute (36.1 %). Weak positive correlation was found between the TES (also log TES) and log TCM (total count of microorganisms) and log COLI (count of coli microorganisms) as well (0.169 and 0.124; P < 0.01; n 1,353 and 1,355). The somatic cell count (SCC) showed no significant relationship with TES (P > 0.05). The surprising results are probably due to the lower variability and especially TCM, COLI and SCC level (248 ± 139 103ml-1; xg 218; vx 56.2 %; n 3,253) in the bulk milk. Significant effect on the TES was identified also in farms (P < 0.001). The results should contribute to an effective method of raw milk selection for dairy products with higher thermal stress during processing. The proposed selection limits for farms according to their history to predict better TES of raw material for 2 years of milk collection are: summer, TES mean over 17.5 minutes, variability up to 36.4 %; winter, over 13.0 minutes and up to 43.3 %.

Rapid analytical methods can contribute to the expansion of milk fatty acid determination for various important practical purposes. The reliability of data resulting from these routine methods plays a crucial role. Bulk and individual milk samples (60 and 345, respectively) were obtained from Czech Fleckvieh and Holstein dairy cows in the Czech Republic. The correlation between milk fatty acid (FA) proportions determined by the routine method (infrared spectroscopy in the mid-region in connection with Fourier transformation; FT-MIR) and the reference method (gas chromatography; GC) was evaluated. To validate the calibration of the FT-MIR method, a linear regression model was used. For bulk milk samples, the correlation coefficients between these methods were higher for the saturated (SFAs) and unsaturated FAs (UFAs) (r = 0.7169 and 0.9232; p < 0.001) than for the trans isomers of UFAs (TFAs) and polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) (r = 0.5706 and 0.6278; p < 0.001). Similar results were found for individual milk samples: r = 0.8592 and 0.8666 (p < 0.001) for SFAs and UFAs, 0.1690 (p < 0.01) for TFAs, and 0.3314 (p < 0.001) for PUFAs. The correlation coefficients for TFAs and PUFAs were statistically significant but too low for practical analytical application. The results indicate that the FT-MIR method can be used for routine determination mainly for SFAs and UFAs.